Madonna Wedding: The Nitty Gritty

After days of speculation over what transpired at last Friday’s wedding of Madonna and Guy Ritchie, PEOPLE, in its new cover story, has all the details. Guided by the glow of hundreds of candles, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rupert Everett, Donatella Versace, a kilt-clad Sting and some 55 others gathered near the foot of the grand staircase in Scotland’s 19th-century Skibo Castle, reports the magazine. Madonna’s daughter, Lourdes, 4, shoeless and in a long ivory dress with short sleeves and a high neck, led the processional. “As soon as they saw Madonna’s daughter throwing rose petals,” says a guest, “people were crying.” Ritchie followed, outfitted in a vibrant teal blazer, antique diamond cufflinks — a wedding gift from his bride-to-be — and a Hunting Mackintosh plaid kilt of navy and green. (A nanny held the couple’s 4-month-old son, Rocco, who sported a matching kilt.) There were two best men, Matthew Vaughn, producer of Ritchie’s two films, and London nightclub owner Piers Adam. Then, enter the bride: Madonna’s strapless ivory silk gown, designed by maid of honor Stella McCartney (who also did Lourdes’s gown), boasted a fitted corset bodice and a long train. And the bride was at no loss for diamonds: she wore an Edwardian diamond tiara, pearl and diamond bracelets, and a custom-designed diamond cross that hung to her cleavage. Said Guy’s father, John Ritchie, 72, of the event: “It was lovely.”